“When
I went to Planned Parenthood for my five abortions, I was never given any sort
of a choice other than to pay my money, sign the papers, and go in the back for
the procedure,” says Lisa Kratz Thomas.

Kratz
Thomas, a former drug addict who turned her life around and is now a mother,
motivational speaker, and talk-show host, said her quick fix with abortion didn’t
help her with her greatest needs. “It was very impersonal, and it was like, the
less talk the better. There was no interaction with the staff and hardly anyone
talked about the procedure. No asked ever asked me about what needs I may have
had, or why I was a repeat customer.”

Every
four years as election rhetoric heats up, pro-abortion advocates threaten that
a vote for a pro-life president would send women to the “back alleys” for abortionsand
this year is no exceptionbut the back alley reality may already be here.

The
idea of the back alley abortion has long been a tactic used by pro-abortion
supporters to scare voters into believing that without legalized abortion women
would be faced with unethical doctors, unregulated surgeries, emergency room
visits and even death due to botched procedures.

Marilisa
Carney, one of the co-founders of 40
Days for Life, says, “Planned Parenthood, in their factory approach to
abortion, has really legitimated the back alley. In their focus on profits over
women’s health, Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry promote that which
they were supposed to rid society of.”

The
back alley statistics were first cooked up by abortionist Bernard Nathanson,
the co-founder of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortions Laws,
which became the National Abortion Rights and Action League (NARAL). He claimed
that 5,000-10,000 women lost their lives annually from botched abortions.
Nathanson, who performed more than 75,000 abortions during his careerincluding
on his own childlater admitted to concocting the numbers to help legalize
abortion.

As
many states, such as Virginia and Tennessee, are making attempts to require
attending doctors to have admitting rights into hospitals, others have very few
requirements when it comes to informed consent and even standard practices
required in other sectors, such as follow-up appointments after a procedure.

Dr.
Timothy Field of College Station, Texas, an obstetrician/gynecologist who has
helped post-abortive women with complications, said: “I would ask them when
their next appointment is and the women would say the same thing: ‘I don’t have
one. In fact, they told me not to contact them if something went wrong, but to
call 911.’”

Former
Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson said that while Planned
Parenthood’s intention used to be to truly help women, the abortion giant has
wavered in its conviction. “Planned Parenthood’s mission, on paper, is to give
women quality and affordable healthcare and to protect women’s rights. In
reality, their mission is to increase their abortion numbers and in turn
increase their revenue.”

“The
abortion industry provides a ‘quick fix’ and focuses more on the immediate
effects of the crisis,” Johnson explained, “giving women an ‘out,’ rather than
focusing on the long term effects of the woman’s choice and the reality of what
is best for the woman.”

Johnson,
who joined the pro-life cause just a year after she was named the regional Planned
Parenthood “Employee of the Year,” stressed that the organization does not
provide good health care. As a result, an abortion clinic is “a place women go
and are not only left confused because they do not hear the ‘truth’ about
abortion and their choices, but they are also in a sense abused by the medical
procedures that are performed without quality medical instructions/information.
It’s a tragic place.”

The
problem is not resolved by taking abortion out of the clinic. RU-486, or the
abortion pillcommonly referred to as a medical abortionalso poses numerous
problems and risks, not always made known to those who take it.

“RU-486
was approved in 2000 by the Food and Drug Administration to
chemically produce abortions,” says Chris Gacek, a senior fellow at
the Family Research Council. “The promise was that the drug was safe, but
experience has taught us that it fails frequently, often causes excessive
bleeding, and can produce severe infections.” According
to Gacek, one in 18 first-trimester medical abortions requires some sort of
follow-up due to complications.

The
abortion pill, which was developed to provide abortions for women in rural
areas, has a higher risk of complicationscomplications that can go untreated
given a woman’s remote location. In some places, such as Britain, the pill is
only administered in the hospital where a woman can be watched, but in the US,
the risk is compounded because a woman doesn’t have access to an attending
physician.

The
problem is exacerbated by those in poor nations who use medical abortion, but
also don’t have access to adequate health care. “The track record established by RU-486 makes it clear that the push for
the widespread use of medical abortion in poor nations is inhumane and
detrimental to the interests of the female patients who take these pills,”
Gacek explains.

“Those pushing for medical abortions in developing
nations do so arguing that the short supply of medical capabilities argues in
favor of making medical abortions available to women in these areas,” but,
Gacek concludes, “Good conscience and good medicine require us to point out
that the exact opposite is the case.”

In
an article that appeared in Marie Clare
titled “I
Was Betrayed by a Pill,” Norine Dworkin-McDaniel explained her harrowing
experience with RU-486, which came without any warning by the medical staff
assisting her. “Nothingnot the drug literature, not the clinic doctor, not
even my own gynohad prepared me for the searing, gripping, squeezing pain that
ripped through my belly 30 minutes” after taking the pill, Dworkin-McDaniel
explained.

While
she was aware of some risks, “[w]hat blindsided me…were the huge cystic boils
that soon covered my neck, shoulders, and back,” Dworkin-McDaniel wrote. “I was
also overcome by fatiguean utter lack of ability to do anything more strenuous
than sleep or lie on the couch. My brain felt so fuzzy, English seemed like a
second language, and I couldn’t work. On top of all that came depression: I sobbed
constantly. I wouldn’t leave the house. I stopped showering.”

Her
doctor told her that such dramatic reactions weren’t uncommon and prescribed an
anti-depressant for her to take until she felt better, which took a full nine
months.

“It
doesn’t help that those who dispense mifepristone/misoprostol (the active drug
in the abortion pill) don’t always know as much about the drugs as they should,”
Dworkin-McDaniel added. “In fact, at the clinic I visited, the doctor couldn’t
tell me which hormone the combination used.”

The
consequences of abortion can extend beyond the immediate aftermath of the
procedure. The psychological and physical damage done by abortion doesn’t end
once the woman has recovered from the procedure, says Victoria Thorn, the
founder of Project Rachel, a
resource for post-abortive healing. “Women who have had abortions may feel
sadness, guilt, confusion over what they are feeling. The list of lingering
effects is long.”

“There
can be depression, chemical dependency issues, suicidal ideation and
attempts. There can be difficulties in subsequent pregnancies, reduced
fertility, premature births if there are two or more abortions, relationship
problems with the father of the aborted child. The majority of relationships
disintegrate after an abortion. Promiscuity or sexual dysfunction, repeat
pregnancies, etc. … the list goes on,” Thorn continued.

“One
thing that no one speaks about is that mothers
carry cells from the children they conceive, even in a miscarriage or an
abortion, for at least 40 years. These cells are scattered throughout her body
and in subsequent pregnancies, she also passes them to her other children. It
is biologically impossible to forget these pregnancies. The phenomena is called
microchimerism. There is still much to be learned, but it is a certainty that
they exist.”

“Women
may also struggle spiritually if they have a faith background and conclude that
they have committed the unforgiveable sin,” Thorn said. “The woman may seem to
be fine for many years and then a life event sets off the grief. Others
struggle immediately after.”

Though
abortion clinics might not offer alternatives, there are options that give
women a real choice.

Mary’s Shelter, a five-year-old
program meeting all the needs of pregnant women in crisis, has become a new
model for authentically helping women. Comprised of a collection of homes in
downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia, the organization was founded by three
homeschooling moms.

The
shelter’s first resident was a Chinese woman whose husband’s work visa had just
expired, forcing him to leave the country. Expecting their fourth child, the
family knew she would be forced to have an abortion if she returned to China
pregnant because of that country’s one-child policy. Although there was not yet
an actual residence, the three moms of Mary’s Shelter scrambled to find a place
for the mother and her three children, and were able to gather all the
necessities for the family within a week.

The
shelter, now operating on the shoe-string budget of $150,000 annually, has foursoon
to be fivebeautiful homes for pregnant women and their other children, in
addition to transportation, child care, life-skills training, and assistance
with further education. The shelter, which has no staffing costs, relies on the
members of the local community for all the women’s needs.

Kathleen
Wilson, the shelter’s director, says that their residents come from all walks
of life and backgrounds. “We have married women who come from other countries,
here on refugee status or lottery, waiting for husbands. We have women who have
emotional issues and have been trying for years unsuccessfully to get life in
order. We have young women who fall prey to men who are abusive and finally get
the courage to leave. We have women who are just plain down on their luck, lost
a job, lost a boyfriend, family disowned.”

The
real key to success in helping the women, according to Wilson, is that they are
motivated to change their lives. Those who come without any motivation “are the
hardest to work with, usually do not stay long, and move on to another not-great
situation.”

On
the other hand, for women who are motivated, we “have seen much healing and
transformation. Many women have gone onto make changes and find faith. Many
complete school, training programs, or [their] GED and move on to the next
step. Most of our mothers, through much training and guidance, are great
mothers to their children.”

Having
a proper home is key to helping a woman decide against abortion, Wilson
explains, and many who come to Mary’s Shelter would have been left with no
option other than abortion. “Many have no place to live, their family does not
want the baby, will not keep them if they don’t abort; same with the boyfriend.
Some lose jobs when the boss finds them pregnant or ill. They think they cannot
afford rent and a baby.”

For
women who have already had abortions, Project Rachel, an official ministry of
the Catholic Church, has spread worldwide to help bring peace and healing in
its aftermath. It relies on trained caregivers, mental health experts, and
spiritual directors. Thorn explains that Project Rachel finds the appropriate
assistance to meet a woman wherever she may be in the healing process.

While
“the common goal of both the pro-choice and pro-life movements is to help women
in crisis, the difference is the ways that they provide care for these women,”
Abby Johnson explains, but there are better options than abortion clinics.

“Our tax money should go to organizations that
provide comprehensive care to women, men, and children. Planned Parenthood
provides shabby, limited health care,” the former Planned Parenthood clinic
direct concluded. “Why would we want women to get some health care when they
can go to a different clinic other than Planned Parenthood and receive total
health care?”

About the Author

Carrie Gress, Ph.D.

Carrie Gress has a doctorate in philosophy from the Catholic University of America and was the Rome Bureau Chief of Zenit's English Edition. She is the author of two Nudging Conversions (Beacon Press, 2015) and co-author with George Weigel of St. John Paul II's Kraków: A Historical and Spiritual Guide, along with photographer Stephen Weigel (Image Books, 2015). A mother of four, she and her family live in Virginia.

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